Selective generation of conversations from individually recorded communications

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a method includes recording a communication at a mobile device, wherein the recorded communication is a user&#39;s portion of a conversation between the user and at least one other participant, transmitting the recorded communication to a network device, transmitting a request for the conversation to the network device, and receiving the conversation generated from the recorded communication and at least one other recorded communication from the other participant. An apparatus is also disclosed.

RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/408,594, filed Feb. 29, 2012, which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, andmore particularly, to selective generation of conversations fromindividually recorded communications.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices are increasingly used as primary communication devicesfor many users. There may be times when a user cannot recall parts of aconversation previously had using the mobile device and would like toreview the conversation. The user may not have thought to record theconversation at the time, and even if the user had the foresight torecord the conversation, recording a conversation between multipleparties may interfere with other people's privacy rights.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network in which embodimentsdescribed herein may be implemented.

FIG. 2 depicts an example of a mobile device useful in implementingembodiments described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system for storing recordedcommunications and recreating conversations, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an overview of a process at a mobiledevice for recording a communication and requesting a conversationrecreated from individually recorded communications, in accordance withone embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an overview of a process at a networkdevice for storing recorded communications and generating a recording ofthe conversation from the recorded communications, in accordance withone embodiment.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Overview

In one embodiment, a method generally comprises recording acommunication at a mobile device, wherein the recorded communicationcomprises the user's portion of a conversation between the user and atleast one other participant, transmitting the recorded communication toa network device, transmitting a request for the conversation to thenetwork device, and receiving the conversation generated from therecorded communication and at least one other recorded communicationfrom the other participant.

In another embodiment, a method generally comprises receiving andstoring a plurality of recorded communications at a network device, eachof the recorded communications representing a participant's portion of aconversation between at least two participants, receiving a request forthe conversation, generating the conversation from the recordedcommunications at a network device, and transmitting the generatedconversation.

In yet another embodiment, an apparatus generally comprises memory forstoring a plurality of recorded communications, each of the recordedcommunications representing a participant's portion of a conversationbetween at least two participants, and a processor for receiving arequest for the conversation, generating the conversation from therecorded communications, and transmitting the generated conversation.

Example Embodiments

The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skillin the art to make and use the embodiments. Descriptions of specificembodiments and applications are provided only as examples, and variousmodifications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thegeneral principles described herein may be applied to other applicationswithout departing from the scope of the embodiments. Thus, theembodiments are not to be limited to those shown, but are to be accordedthe widest scope consistent with the principles and features describedherein. For purpose of clarity, details relating to technical materialthat is known in the technical fields related to the embodiments havenot been described in detail.

The embodiments described herein may be used to selectively generate arecreation of a multiparty conversation from individually recordedcommunications without having to know in advance that the conversationshould be recorded. In one embodiment, each participant's portion of theconversation is recorded and transmitted to a central storage device. Asdescribed below, each participant's portion of the conversation may beincluded in the generated recording of the conversation, if the userrequesting the conversation and participants belong to a common groupthat allows others within their group to use their recordedcommunications.

The term ‘communication’ as used herein refers to a user's orparticipant's portion of a conversation. The term ‘conversation’ as usedherein refers to a multiparty conversation and may be an originalconversation taking place between participants in which two or more ofthe participants' portions of the conversation are recorded (recordedcommunication) or a generated conversation, which is a recreation of theoriginal conversation from the recorded communications. The generatedconversation may be audio, video (i.e., video including text), or bothaudio and video.

The communication is recorded at a mobile device and includes audio onlyfor the mobile device user's portion of the conversation. Theconversation may take place over the mobile device (e.g., user talkingto another participant over a cellular phone connection), may be live(e.g., with one or more participants in same room with user), or acombination of both. If participants other than the user are present andtheir voices can be picked up by the mobile device, the mobile device ispreferably configured to filter out the other participants' voices sothat only the user's portion of the conversation is recorded. This maybe accomplished, for example, by the use of a microphone or headset wornby the user. The other participant's portion of the conversation may berecorded on their mobile device.

Referring now to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1, an example of anetwork in which embodiments described herein may be implemented isshown. For simplification, only a small number of nodes are shown in acommunication system. The communication system includes mobile devices10 in communication with a network device 12 over a network 14.

The network 14 may include one or more networks (e.g., local areanetwork, wireless local area network, cellular network, metropolitanarea network, wide area network, satellite network, Internet, intranet,radio access network, public switched network, virtual private network,or any other network or combination thereof). Communication pathsbetween the mobile devices 10 and network device 12 may include anynumber or type of intermediate nodes (e.g., routers, switches, gateways,base stations, access points, or other network devices), whichfacilitate passage of data between the devices.

The mobile device 10 may be any suitable equipment that supportswireless communication, including for example, a cellular phone,personal digital assistant, portable computing device, tablet,multimedia device, and the like. The mobile device 10 may be incommunication with a base station (not shown), which connects to a wireddata network and serves as a gateway or access point through which themobile device 10 has access to the network 14. The mobile device 10 andbase station each include one or more antenna for wireless communication(e.g., 3G/4G (third generation/fourth generation of cellular wirelessstandards) wide area network (WAN) connection). The mobile device 10 mayalso comprise a Wi-Fi interface and communicate with the network 14 viaan access point (not shown), rather than the base station.

The mobile device 10 includes a recording module 16 (e.g., software,application, code, program, device) used to record an audiocommunication at the mobile device 10. The recording module 16 may beconfigured, for example, to record only the user's portion of aconversation, along with the time and date of the conversation. Theaudio communications recorded at mobile device 10 are uploaded tonetwork storage (e.g., memory 20) at network device 12. The mobiledevice 10 is preferably configured to compress the audio beforetransmitting the audio to the network device 12. The audio may beencrypted, compressed, or encoded according to any format. The networkdevice 12 may also be configured to decompress or decrypt audio receivedfrom the mobile device 10 and compress or encrypt audio or videotransmitted to the mobile device. Details of one example of the mobiledevice 10 are described below with respect to FIG. 2.

The network device 12 may be any device (e.g., server, host) or group ofdevices configured to receive, process, and store recorded audiocommunications from the mobile devices 10. The network device 12 is aprogrammable machine that may be implemented in hardware, software, orany combination thereof. The network device 12 includes one or moreprocessor 18, memory 20, and network interface 22. Memory 20 may be avolatile memory or non-volatile storage, which stores variousapplications, operating systems, modules, and data for execution and useby the processor 18. Recorded communications 24 may be stored in memory20. Memory 20 may also store trust groups or a list of recordedcommunications or available conversations identified by date/time,participants, or keywords, for example.

The recorded communications 24 are stored at network storage at thenetwork device (e.g., memory 20) or remotely located network storage.The network storage may be configured to provide a first-in-first-outbuffer of a specified duration (e.g., day, week, month) and may also beconfigured to prioritize conversations. For example, the user mayidentify an important conversation or one or more communications as highpriority, in which case these recorded communications remain in storageafter other lower priority communications are deleted to make room fornew communications. The user may also select preferences forprioritizing communications. For example, the user may identify highpriority conversations as those which include select participants orcommunications that contain specified keywords. The user may alsoidentify conversations or communications with low priority (e.g., thoseincluding selected participants or containing specified keywords). Lowpriority communications may be stored in memory for shorter durations ormay not be stored at all.

Logic may be encoded in one or more tangible media for execution by theprocessor 18. For example, the processor 18 may execute codes stored ina computer-readable medium such as memory 20. The computer-readablemedium may be, for example, electronic (e.g., RAM (random accessmemory), ROM (read-only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read-onlymemory)), magnetic, optical (e.g., CD, DVD), electromagnetic,semiconductor technology, or any other suitable medium.

The network interface 22 may comprise one or more interfaces (linecards,ports) for receiving signals or data or transmitting signals or data toother devices. The interface 22 may include, for example, an Ethernetinterface for connection to a computer or network.

The network device 12 also includes a conversation module 26 operable togenerate a conversation (e.g., audio/video recording) from two or morerecorded audio communications representing different participants'portions of the conversation. As described in detail below with respectto FIG. 3, the conversation module 26 is configured to interact with themobile device 10, tag/categorize received communications, store recordedcommunications, search a database of recorded communications, andgenerate a conversation from the recorded communications. The generatedconversation may be an audio recreation of the original conversation, avideo containing text corresponding to the recorded audio, or ananimated video with audio.

The network device 12 may be configured, for example, to generate atranscription of the recorded audio communication. The transcription(e.g., computer generated transcription) may be used to identifykeywords (e.g., for use in prioritizing or tagging the recordedcommunication as described below) or to provide text for display in avideo, in which case audio is not needed for the generated conversation.

In another example, the generated conversation comprises video andaudio. In one embodiment, the user may choose an avatar (e.g., from agroup of preloaded graphical images) or create an avatar to representthe user. The user may also specify a preferred or default avatar to useto represent him in any generated video. The avatars may be configuredsuch that their emotions, voices, or gestures differ based on therecorded communication. The avatars may also automatically lip-sync therecorded words. The user may also select from a variety of scenes forthe video (e.g., cubicle, park, office, dinner table) and pick cameraangles, sound effects, etc.

In one embodiment, the network device 12 is operable to configuresecurity groups each containing a list of people that the user trustsenough to access the user's portion of the conversation. The trust groupmay include, for example, friends, family, co-workers, team members,employers, employees, etc. If a participant is in the user's trustgroup, the participant's portion of the conversation is included in thegenerated conversation. The conversation may include, for example, twoor more of the participants' recorded communications, while leaving outone or more other participant's portion of the conversation if they arenot included in the user's trust group or their portion of theconversation was not recorded. The system may also be configured toallow participants to exclude their portion of the conversation for aspecified communication (e.g., date/time, participants).

It is to be understood that the network and network device 12 shown inFIG. 1 and described herein are only examples and that other networksand network devices having different components or configurations may beused, without departing from the scope of the embodiments. For example,the network device 12 may further include any suitable combination ofhardware, software, algorithms, processors, devices, components, orelements operable to facilitate the capabilities described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the mobile device 10 in whichembodiments described herein may be implemented. The mobile device 10includes a visual display 32 and a keypad 34 comprising multiple keys(not shown) used in operation of the device. The screen 32 may be usedto display a graphical user interface for use in entering userpreferences (e.g., priorities, number of communications to store, timeperiod to store communications) or other information (e.g., useridentifier or password, trust group, mobile identifier). The screen 32may also be used to display a video of the generated conversation. Thekeypad 34 may also be a touch screen integrated with the display 32. Thekeypad 34 may include numeric keys, alphabetic keys, standard telephonekeys, or any other icons or symbols. The mobile device 10 may includeany number of other user interfaces such as one or more manual buttons(e.g., switch 35).

A user can select and activate the recording module 16 by touching thedisplay screen 32 (e.g., selecting an icon on the touch screen) orpressing one or more buttons. Once activated, the recording module 16may record all communications at the mobile device 10 (e.g., callsinitiated by user at the mobile device 10, incoming calls received atthe mobile device, or user's conversations at the location of the mobiledevice). The mobile device 10 may also be configured so that a user canselectively initiate or turn off the recording module 16 using one ormore user interfaces. For example, after the recording module 16 isactivated, the user may be presented with an option such as “Press tostart recording”, or the recording may be automatically initiated at thestart of each new communication. Once the recording module is active,another message may be displayed on the touch screen (e.g., “Press tostop recording”).

In one embodiment, the recording module 16 (or other module orapplication at mobile device 10) may be configured for displaying agraphical user interface on the display screen 32 for use by the user inrequesting a generated conversation from network device 12. For example,the graphical user interface may present the user with a list ofavailable conversations (e.g., identified by date/time, participants,keywords) and options (e.g., participants to include, format (audio,video, audio and video), portion of conversation). The graphical userinterface may also be used to enter search information for use infinding a conversation to recreate.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the mobile device 10 also includes an antenna36, which may be internal or external to the device, for wirelesscommunications. One or more external ports 38 may be provided forconnection with another input or output device (e.g., external displayor microphone). The mobile device 10 also includes a speaker 37 andmicrophone 39.

As illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 2, the mobile device 10further includes memory 40, one or more processors 42, mobile devicecontroller 44, RF (Radio Frequency) circuitry 46, network interface 48,and recording module 16.

Memory 40, which may include one or more computer readable storagemediums, may be any form of volatile or nonvolatile memory, includingfor example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),magnetic media, optical media, flash memory, removable media, or anyother suitable memory component. Memory 40 may store any data orinformation, including software and encoded logic, utilized by themobile device 10. Memory 40 may also store the recorded communicationbefore it is transmitted to the network device 12.

The one or more processors 42 run or execute various code, softwareprograms, or instructions stored in memory 40 to perform functions forthe mobile device 10 and to process data. Logic may be encoded in one ormore tangible media for execution by the processor 42. For example,memory 40 can be utilized to store and retrieve software programsincorporating computer code that implements aspects of the embodiments,data for use with the embodiments, and the like. As described above, theprocessor may also be configured to encode/decode audio or video.

The RF circuitry 46 receives and transmits RF signals and convertselectrical signals to or from electromagnetic signals and communicateswith communication devices via the electromagnetic signals.Communication circuitry allows the mobile device 10 to communicate withother network devices using any suitable communications protocol.

The mobile device controller 44 provides for management and control ofvarious elements within the device 10. For example, the controller 44may access information maintained within memory 40 and control otherelements to interact with users and other communication devices.

The network interface 48 may include one or more interfaces. Theinterfaces 48 may comprise, for example, a radio interface (e.g., 3G/4Gradio interface) for communication via a base station or a Wi-Fiinterface for communication with an access point.

It is to be understood that the mobile device 10 shown in FIG. 2 anddescribed herein is only one example of a mobile device, and that thedevice may have additional, fewer, or different components, or adifferent arrangement or configuration of components, without departingfrom the scope of the embodiments. For example, the mobile device 10 mayfurther include any suitable combination of hardware, software,algorithms, processors, devices, components, or elements operable tofacilitate the capabilities described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of a communicationstorage and conversation construction system 50, in accordance with oneembodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the system includes a userinterface 52, tag/categorize module 54, database 56, search engine 58,and conversation generator 60. Recorded communications are received fromthe mobile devices 10 at the tag/categorize module 54. Thecommunications may be categorized, for example, by user, date/time,participants, keywords, etc. In one embodiment, the tag/categorizemodule 54 is configured to translate the audio to text for use inidentifying keywords in the communication. The module 54 transmits thetagged/categorized communications to the database 56 for storage.

The database 56 may also contain access control lists (e.g., trustgroups) for use in identifying whether or not a specified user isallowed access to recorded communications from other participants.

The user interface 52 interacts with the mobile device 10 to receiverequests for generated conversations. The user interface 52 may alsoreceive information from the search engine 58 for use in generating alist of available conversations. The list may include, for example,conversations identified by date/time, participants, keywords, priority,etc.

The search engine 58 uses the information provided in a user request tosearch the database 56 for recorded communications which are part of therequested conversation. The search engine 58 is preferably configured torapidly locate specific communications stored in database 56. The searchengine 58 retrieves the recorded communications that are part of therequested conversation and for which the user is authorized to receive.For example, a conversation may comprise three recorded communications(from the user and two other participants), however, only oneparticipant is in the same trust group as the user. In this case, thegenerated conversation will only include two of the recordedcommunications. The search engine 58 transmits the recordedcommunications to the conversation generator 60. The generator 60stitches together the recorded communications in the requested format(e.g., audio, video, audio and video). The conversation generator 60 mayuse a time stamp or common audio signal in the recordings to properlyalign the communications. The conversation generator 60 may receiveformat information or other preferences from the user interface 52 foruse in recreating the conversation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an overview of a process at themobile device 10 for recording a communication and requesting agenerated conversation, in accordance with one embodiment. At step 62, acommunication is recorded at the mobile device 10 using recording module16. In one example, the recording module 16 at the user's mobile devicerecords the user's portion of the conversation, and anotherparticipant's portion of the conversation is recorded at their mobiledevice. The recorded communications from each mobile device 10 aretransmitted to the network device 12 (step 64). The user may request aconversation by identifying a date and time, participants, keywords,etc., or selecting the conversation from a list of availableconversations (step 66).

For example, the user may realize that a conversation he had on theprevious day would be of interest to others on his team. The user mayscroll through a list of his conversations and identify the one he wants(e.g., based on time of conversation or participants). The user may alsorequest a format (e.g., audio, video, audio and video) for the generatedconversation and select one or more options (e.g., specify avatars foruse in the video). The user may also enter a name or password for atrust group in order to have access to recorded communicationscorresponding to the other participants' portions of the conversation.The network device 12 generates the requested conversation, as describedbelow with respect to FIG. 5.

The mobile device 10 receives the generated conversation from thenetwork device 12 (step 68). The generated conversation may bedelivered, for example, via streaming video or file to the mobile device10 or may be sent to a specified contact (e.g., user e-mail).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an overview of a process at thenetwork device 12 for storing recorded communications and generating aconversation (recording of the conversation) from the recordedcommunications, in accordance with one embodiment. At step 70, thenetwork device 12 receives recorded communications from recordingmodules 16 at mobile devices 10. The network 12 device may tag orcategorize the communications as previously described and stores therecorded communications (step 72). The recorded communication may beidentified, for example, by the user (e.g., username, identifier,password), participants, date/time, keyword, or any combination thereof.The network device 12 may also generate a list of recordedcommunications and link related communications (i.e., recordedcommunications from same conversation). As previously described, thenetwork device 12 may generate a list of the recorded communications orconversations for each user and transmit the list to the user's mobiledevice 10 for use in selecting a conversation.

The network device 12 receives a request for a conversation generatedfrom two or more recorded communications (step 74). The request mayidentify, for example, the user and date/time of communication or mayindicate a conversation selected from a list presented to the user onthe mobile device 10. If the other participants in the conversation arein the same trust group as the user requesting the conversation, thenetwork device 12 allows the user to include the other participants'recorded communications (portions of the conversation) in the generatedconversation. The request may also specify one or more options for theconversation (e.g., format, graphical image to represent user,background, music, special effects). If no preferences are specified,stored user options or default options may be used.

The network device 12 generates the conversation from the recorded audiocommunications (step 76). The individually recorded communications arestitched together using, for example, time as a common indicator. Thenetwork device 12 transmits the generated conversation to the userrequesting the conversation (step 78). As noted above, video may betransmitted, for example, as streaming video to the mobile device 10associated with the user or a file (e.g., audio, video, audio and video)may be transmitted to the user's e-mail or mobile device.

It is to be understood that the processes illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5are only examples and that steps may be modified, added, removed, orcombined, without departing from the scope of the embodiments.

Although the method and apparatus have been described in accordance withthe embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readilyrecognize that there could be variations made without departing from thescope of the embodiments. Accordingly, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description and shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: recording a first portion ofa multiparty conversation at a mobile device, said first portioncomprising a first participant's portion of the multiparty conversation;transmitting said first portion of the multiparty conversation to anetwork device; transmitting a request for the multiparty conversationto the network device; and receiving from the network device, aconversation generated from said first portion of the multipartyconversation and a second portion of the multiparty conversationcomprising a second participant's portion of the multipartyconversation; wherein said first participant's portion of the multipartyconversation comprises a mobile device user's portion of the multipartyconversation, said second participant's portion of the multipartyconversation not included in said first portion of the multipartyconversation.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein recording said firstportion of the multiparty conversation comprises automatically recordingcommunications at the mobile device.
 3. The method of claim 1 whereinthe generated conversation comprises a video.
 4. The method of claim 3wherein the video comprises graphical images used to represent saidparticipants in the generated conversation.
 5. The method of claim 1wherein the generated conversation comprises recorded portions of themultiparty conversation from all participants in the conversationbelonging to a common trust group.
 6. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising providing a list of available conversations.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 wherein transmitting said request comprises transmitting aformat for the generated conversation.
 8. The method of claim 1 whereinthe multiparty conversation is generated from said portions of themultiparty conversation recorded at different mobile devices.
 9. Amethod comprising: receiving and storing portions of a multipartyconversation at a network device, each of said portions of themultiparty conversation comprising a different participant's portion ofthe multiparty conversation; receiving a request for the multipartyconversation at the network device; generating a conversation from atleast two of said portions of the multiparty conversation at the networkdevice; and transmitting the generated conversation.
 10. The method ofclaim 9 wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the requestfrom a mobile device associated with one of said participants of themultiparty conversation.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein the generatedconversation comprises a video comprising images representing theparticipants.
 12. The method of claim 9 wherein the generatedconversation excludes at least one of said participant's portion of themultiparty conversation.
 13. The method of claim 9 further comprisingcategorizing said portions of the multiparty conversation.
 14. Themethod of claim 9 further comprising transcribing said portions of themultiparty conversation and identifying keywords for use in tagging themultiparty conversation.
 15. The method of claim 9 further comprisinggenerating a list of available conversations stored at the networkdevice.
 16. The method of claim 9 further comprising searching adatabase for said portions associated with the multiparty conversationafter receiving said request for the multiparty conversation andincluding only said portions for said participants belonging to a commontrust group.
 17. Logic encoded on one or more non-transitory computerreadable media for execution and when executed operable to: storeportions of a multiparty conversation, each of said portions of themultiparty conversation comprising a different participant's portion ofthe multiparty conversation; process a request for the multipartyconversation; generate a conversation from at least two of said portionsof the multiparty conversation; and transmit the generated conversation.18. The logic of claim 17 wherein the generated conversation comprises avideo comprising images representing the participants.
 19. The logic ofclaim 18 wherein the images comprise avatars that change based onchanges in the multiparty conversation.
 20. The logic of claim 17wherein the generated conversation comprises said portions from all ofthe participants in the conversation belonging to a common trust group.